HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010 02-23Meridian City Council Meeting February 23, 2010
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 7:03 p.m., Tuesday,
February 23, 2010, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Keith Bird, Brad Hoaglun, and David
Zaremba.
Members Absent: Charlie Rountree.
Others Present: Bill Nary, Jaycee Holman, Anna Canning, Bill Parsons, Scott Colaianni,
Mark Niemeyer, Tom Bany, Keith Watts, Stacy Kilchenmann, and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X David Zaremba X Brad Hoaglun
Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: I will go ahead and call this meeting to order. Thank you all for being here
and joining us this evening and thank you to our Boy Scout troops. We have two troops
represented here tonight. First Troop 463. We appreciate you boys being here. And
also we have a representative from Troop 62. Always love to see young faces in the
audience and we hope we don't make your eyes glaze over. We also appreciate having
the two colonels with us today and to share with our public the F-35 program. This
Council and Mayor are very supportive of the efforts that they are making on behalf of
that project and look forward to hearing more about it tonight. So, thank you for joining
us. For the public record it is Tuesday, February 23rd. It is a few minutes after 7:00
o'clock. We will start today's -- tonight's meeting with roll call attendance.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Tonight we will be led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Josh Fulmer. He is
with Troop 463. Josh, if you want to come up front and if you will all rise and join Josh
in leading us in the pledge.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
De Weerd: Josh, because you were brave enough to draw the short straw, I will
present you with our City of Meridian pin and thank you for leading us in tonight's
pledge. Thank you. See, guys, what you missed out on?
Item 3: Community Invocation by Christian Butler with the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints.
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February 23, 2010
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De Weerd: Item No. 3 is our community invocation. Tonight we will be led by Christian
Butler with the Church of Jesus Christ of -- thank you -- of Latter-day Saints. Yes,
please.
Butler: Our Heavenly Father, we are grateful to be gathered here this evening. We are
so grateful for the dedication of these men and women and their service to this
community. We are so grateful for this community we live in and the people that live
here. We are so grateful for this county and the freedoms that we enjoy. We ask thee
that thou wouldst bless this country and the leaders in this country that they will be
guided and to have thy discernment as to the paths of righteousness. We bless -- ask
you that thou wouldst bless this community and the leaders here that they will look out
for the best interest of this community and we are so grateful for the opportunities we
have and we pray for these things humbly and we do so in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
De Weerd: I would also like to present you with the City of Meridian pin. Thank you.
Thanks for being here.
Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda.
De Weerd: Item No. 4 is adoption of the agenda.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: A couple of items to go over. On the Consent Agenda, Item 5-G, Planning is
requesting to pull that from the agenda for this evening and also 7-A under Department
Reports, the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council update, we would like to move that
immediately following the Consent Agenda. Moving on to Action Items, 9-A, the
applicant is requesting that that be withdrawn. Also on 9-B, the Southridge Subdivision,
there is a request to continue that to March 2nd, 2010. 9-E, the applicant there is
requesting that it continue to March 23rd. And with those changes, Madam Mayor, I
move the adoption of the agenda.
Zaremba: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as changed. All in
favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 5: Consent Agenda
A. February 2, 2010 City Council Meeting Minutes
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February 23, 2010
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B. February 9, 2010 City Council Meeting Minutes
C. CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Subrecipient
Agreement with Ada County Housing Authority in the Amount
of $35,000.00 for Activities Approved in PY2009 CDBG Action
Plan
D. Change Order #1 to the Master Agreement Dated January 31,
2007 with Transportation and Civil Solutions, P.C. for NW 4th
Street Water Line Replacement Engineering Design Services
for aNot-to-Exceed Amount of $5,240.00
E. Change Order #2 to the Original Contract Dated June 24, 2009
with AME Electric, Inc. for Antenna Reconfiguration at the
Water Department as Part of the PRV SCADA Installation
Project for aNot-to-Exceed Amount of $938.40 with Original
SCADA Contract Price of $55,955.00
F. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for Approval: PP 09-
002 Five Twelve by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Located at West Side of Stoddard Road, Approximately 1/2
Mile South of Overland Road: Request for Preliminary Plat
Approval of Two Buildable Lots and One Common Lot on
Approximately 12.91 Acres in an Existing R-8 Zoning District
H. Final Order of Appeal for Approval: MFP 09-003 Bienville
Square Subdivision by Idaho Mutual Trust Located at the West
Side of Eagle Road and South of Ustick Road: Request to
Modify the Six Foot Decorative Masonry Wall Along the
Western Boundary with the Final Plat Landscaping Plan for
Bienville Square Subdivision
De Weerd: Item 5 is our Consent Agenda.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Under 5-G, as I mentioned, Planning is -- would like to pull that off the
Consent Agenda. We will probably see that at a future date. And with that sole change,
Madam Mayor, I move approval of the Consent Agenda and authorize the Mayor to sign
and the Clerk to attest.
Zaremba: Second.
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February 23, 2010
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De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda as amended.
Any discussion? Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carves.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
A. Mayor's Youth Advisory Council Update
De Weerd: Okay. Well, we made a change in our agenda and we have moved the
Mayor's Youth Advisory Council up to this point. So, I would like to introduce you to Jo
Stahl. She will be giving the report tonight. And you can ask any difficult questions.
Stahl: I appreciate that.
De Weerd: They never listen.
Stahl: Great. I'm Jo Stahl. I'm a senior at Rocky Mountain High School this year and I
am involved in the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, especially in the government affairs
committee. What we are doing recently, we received a tobacco grant from the
American Lung Association for a thousand dollars. We went to -- Janelle and I went to
a conference over aweekend -- I can do that -- to team about activism and advocacy for
raising awareness for the effects of -- tobacco as in Idaho, especially on teenagers.
Through that we were entered into a local contest to come up with a new name for the
2010 Idaho Youth Fighting Tobacco Challenge Grant. So, obviously, that's quite a
mouth full. So, Janelle and I came up with the acronym STAND, which stands for
Support Teens Against Nicotine Dependency and we won that contest and we got a
really cool plaque that's crystal and all engraved and pretty, which is not here,
unfortunately, for us to show you, but we are really proud of and it's the official name of
our group now, so that's pretty exciting. We are currently creating a PSA for this now
that we introduced this to the -- some of the local high schools and to their broadcasting
programs as well, opening it up to them to enter videos as well. MYAC is doing one
themselves and we are pretty excited about how that's going to turn out. The local
news stations have offered to run them as well. So, that's underway. We are also
involved in the texting while driving bill that's now in legislation. We had a breakfast not
too long ago where we had seven of the nine legislators out of there. We talked to them
and made a great presentation about the texting while driving and the new information
contained in it and our perspective as teenagers and what that entails. We
recommended to them our ideas for and it's now there and so we will be testifying there
at -- while it talks -- we will be talking to the senate while it's up there and, hopefully,
gain some of their support to that. The community involvement committee is working on
a dinner auction that is taking place on March 25th, so we are looking for auction items
and finding sponsors for tables and all that kind of stuff. Our tax committee is just
started planning a Yahoo Oahu party for event for MYAC people and an outreach for
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high school students and middle school students everywhere. They have been getting
a great number of kids there and that's really exciting to see so many different people
there. That's all I have for you right now. Thank you, guys, for your time. Is there any
questions?
De Weerd: Council, questions?
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Jo?
Stahl: Yes.
Hoaglun: Do you happen to know the texting of the -- the status of the texting bill right
now? Is it -- is it going to be heard in a senate committee shortly?
Stahl: Yes.
Hoaglun: Okay.
De Weerd: On Thursday.
Hoaglun: On Thursday. Okay.
Stahl: Thursday at 1:30.
Hoaglun: Any idea what the chances are of getting it out of committee? Have you
heard anything on that?
Stahl: I haven't, actually.
Hoaglun: Okay. Also, what -- the acronym STAND again, what was that -- what was
that --
Stahl: Support Teens Against Nicotine Dependency.
Hoaglun: Okay. That's a very good one. Congratulations on it.
De Weerd: Well -- and I would like to say they were very much looked up to as leaders
at the retreat or workshop that they had. Both Jo and Janelle were great examples and
it was -- I think they kind of thrust you in front of the TV or was that Janelle?
Stahl: That was Janelle.
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De Weerd: But they gained a lot of respect from their peers and I think we saw that a
lot at the AIC conference last summer as well. So, it's nice to see that we have such
great youth representatives that represent our city very well.
Stahl: Thank you very much.
Item 6: Community Items/Presentations
A. Presentation and Information Brief on Idaho F-35 Mission
De Weerd: Thank you. Now, Jo, you can go do your homework. Okay. Item 6-A. We
have a presentation and information brief on the Idaho F-35 mission project. Colonel
Shawver is here to introduce -- and, I'm sorry, Ididn't -- I don't remember the other
colonel's name. I just was introduced and, of course, I forgot. So, it's up to you to
introduce your partner there.
Shawver: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thank
you for your phenomenal support, not only of the Idaho National Guard over the years,
but specifically the Idaho Air National Guard. We have been partners in the Treasure
Valley for well over 40 years -- excuse me -- much longer than that. Since 1940 at the
airport in Boise and many many of our members call the wonderful City of Meridian
home. So, we want to thank you for your phenomenal support of the Idaho National
Guard, specifically the 124th Wing, and a special thank you for the resolution that you
have passed in support of the F-35. We'd like to give you avery -brief update today and,
again, I appreciate you and Council Hoaglun's attendance at the news conference last
Friday that was hosted by Governor Otter. So, to begin the evening's briefing we would
like to take just a few minutes and recap the history of the 124th Wing here in the
Treasure Valley. So, if we could roll that DVD, please.
(Video shown.)
De Weerd: Apologize for the sound.
Shawver: No apology required. The point of that DVD was to highlight not only our
long storied history at Gowen Field, but as we compete with the five locations that have
been added to the finalist list for the training of the F-35, the intent of that video or that
DVD was to show that we do have a history with training air crews since World War II,
as well as an operational commitment out at Gowen Field. At this point I'd like to
introduce Colonel J.R. Compton, who is the 124th Wing commander, who will walk you
through the F-35 bed down and basing selection process. J.R.
Compton: Madam Mayor, a pleasure to be here. I hope you can hear me just fine.
De Weerd: Yes.
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February 23, 2010
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Compton: We took the liberty of taking the picture of this F-35 and putting our fin flash
on the tail and our squadron symbol right behind the cockpit where I hope to be sitting
some day.
De Weerd: It looks good.
Compton: Doesn't that look nice?
De Weerd: It looks right.
Compton: All right. Well, let's get on with this. Gowen Field, that's the home of the
124th Wing and the reason I put this slide up to start with is it says about everything
there is to say about why the F-35 in Idaho. If you look at this picture it's obviously
taken in the springtime when the grasses are green. If you look at it in the fall, it's all
desert, brown, and dried up land. But down where the buildings are that you saw earlier
is a huge area for expansion. The parking ramp, the apron that we have, is more than
suited to handle the increase, the influx of new fighters into the -into the wing. The
facility on the far end of the parking ramp there are the C-130s and due to the 2005
Base Realignment and Closure Act, those C-130s were removed from Gowen Field.
That was a tremendous loss for the state of Idaho. All the facilities that were down
there were built within the last five years. They are now basically vacant. So, we have
a vacant ramp. We have vacant facilities for both operations and maintenance and they
are looking for a home, they are looking for something to come in and occupy them and
that F-35 mission is perfectly suited to go right there. The weather in the state of Idaho
is perfect for a training mission of all caliber. When we had the F-4s here we were
training our -- we had, actually, an operational squadron and a training squadron. The
operational squadron was able to do realistic training for a deployment anywhere in the
world, whether that was Alaska or Asia, we were able to go there based upon the
training we had right here in the state of Idaho. Nothing's changed, that is there, and
the U.S. Air Force recognizes the value and the benefit of what Idaho, .the weather, the
terrain, and this installation has to offer. And I think that's why we made the short list for
the F-35 program here in the state. I want to talk about the economic effects of the
military divisions of the state of Idaho. If nothing else happens, if we stay the same right
now, we will remain the fourth largest employer within the state of Idaho. Between the
Idaho Army National Guard, which is located all over the state, the Air National Guard
here at Gowen Field and over at Mountain Home Air Force Base, the Air Guard -- the
Idaho Air Guard assets at Mountain Home Air Force Base -- we have about 1.5 billion
dollars worth of assets here in the state. The ratio of federal dollars to state dollars that
we received is 17 to one, as you can see with the numbers below. Almost 300 million
dollars comes into the state. Ninety-four percent of that is federal funding and six
percent of that comes from our -- our state budget. If you want to talk about the roll-
over effect and the multiplier effect -- the economic multiplier that those dollars have
within the City of Meridian, Ada County, our corresponding cities around here, I'm not
the guy to talk to, I'm not the economic -- the economic expert here, but I'm going to tell
you that it could be as much as ten fold, depending upon which numbers you want to
believe. They are all economists. The F-35 impact, if we are to gain the F-35 mission,
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we believe that it would double the size of the Idaho Air National Guard. So, our current
Air Guard payroll is around 60 million dollars and it would increase around 50 to 60
million dollars with the added F-35 program right here. The 50 to 400 million dollar
military construction project, those numbers in there, that is a very very large range.
There is a couple of units already that are looking to gain this mission and their
estimates are around 47 million dollars to -- for new construction and remodeling. Eglin
Air Force Base down in Florida, which is the first location for the F-35, their current
military construction project is 437 million dollars. Now, that's a very unique location,
because they, basically, had to gut the entire facility and they are building it back up and
they are going to host the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marine Corps training program at
Eglin. So, it's a much much larger expansion than what we would see in Idaho.
However, we are anticipating three squadrons at Mountain Home Air Force Base and
three squadrons at Gowen Field, which would almost be very similar to -- I don't know,
pick a number inside that 50 to 400 million dollars construction that's going to happen
over a five year time frame. The ripple effect is that will bring jobs, people from out of
town to come in to help with the construction project, engineers, project managers,
families that come with those folks. They are all going to live right in here. The
contractors in that next -- that last line about the revenues and the contractors, those
aren't necessarily the contractors that are building those facilities, but this F-35 mission
will rely upon a lot of civilian contractors to run the training simulator, some of the
maintenance programs, some of the finance programs that are associated with that.
Obviously, it is a training mission, so we are going to have .students that will be traveling
here, they will come with their young families, their parents will come and visit them,
they will want to vacation here and -- I mean it just -- it just multiplies out significantly as
far as what the impact is in the valley here. I think this first bullet right here is really
significant in that the F-35 is the new fighter. It is the -- it will be the premier fighter for
the U.S. military in the long years out. Forty years. The A-10 that we fly today was built
-- was designed in the 1970s. The one that, hopefully, I will get to go fly tomorrow was
built in 1980. We maintain those extremely well. They are a very safe aircraft. They
are very formidable assets, however, they are aging. So is our F-16 fleet, our F-15
fleet. So, the U.S. needs to modify our fighter fleet and the F-35 is the aircraft to do
that. If we have that placed at Treasure Valley, this will insure that we, the training
house will be here in the many many out years. The BRAC action I talked about. We
lost our C-130s because of BRAC. BRAC will happen again. It's part of law. This
minimizes or eliminates the risk that the wing in Idaho would lose its missions or even
be reduced in its operational mission. The city of Boise, with the airport there, will help
them with the expansion to a third runway as the traffic flow between commercial,
civilian, and military aircraft increases, we will push a need to build that third runway.
And the air space I already somewhat mentioned, the training ranges we have, we are
very lucky that we can -- in the A-10 I can take off and in 15 minutes I'm already doing
my first engagements on the training range. In the F-35 that's five minutes away. So,
the simple fact that that aircraft is located so close to us is only saving the tax taxpayer
dollars, because I don't spend that jet fuel driving for 30 minutes or 50 miles just to get --
or 150 miles just to get to the air space. It is, basically, literally, in our backyard. The
joint strike fighter itself -- this is a very unique venture that the Department of Defense
has gone through. It's, basically, one program that is supporting both the Air Force, the
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Navy, and the Marine Corps. There are three distinct variances of the fighter -- and we
are not just holding it within our -- our own borders, but we have partnered with our
international friends, for instance, Norway, Australia, they are partners in the
development, the design, and they are contributing to the development of this aircraft
and the foreign military sales is something that has not yet been fully -- fully looked at,
but we have had foreign military sales with our F-18s, our F-16s, our F-15s, and there is
no reason to believe that the joint strike fighter would not be available to other foreign
partners. So, specifically, about the aircraft itself. It is a fifth generation fighter. The A-
10 is considered a third generation aircraft. There is not really any good way for me to
explain to you what the capabilities of a fifth generation fighter would look like, but if you
think back when we had the stealth fighter that first came out, that is barely a fourth
generation -- barely a fourth generation fighter. So, the stealth capabilities of this
aircraft, its power plant, its maneuverability, its avionics, it is an all weather day-night
operation fighter. Primarily it's designed in the air-to-ground role, replacing the mission
of what our F-15E Strike Eagle or the F-16 would do. However, it also, like those two
aircraft, has the capability to engage air-to-air targets should that be -- be necessary. I
talked about the replacements of the -- in the Air Force, but the Navy and the Marine
Corps are going to replace their aviate Harrier and their F-18 Homet. The F-18 just
went through a major modification and improvement. However, in about 20 years time
frame that mod will now be wom out and that F-18 is about what they calla 4.5
generation aircraft. A little bit about the base selection process and how -- I know,
Mayor, when we walked in you asked how close we are to the project. Well, this is --
this kind of outlines how the base selection will take place. Early in 2010 they
announced that we, the 124th Wing, Gowen Field and Mountain Home Air Force Base,
made the short list. In February we had members from Air Combat Command and the
Air Education and Training Command at Gowen Field and they did an end-to-end, wall-
to-wall survey of the parking ramp, the runways, the infrastructure, the telephone lines,
the computer lines, our power generation, water, the facilities, the square footage --
everything to see how compatible we are for this new mission. They left and, then, we
had started the initial environmental scoping meetings. That's where we went out into
the city and we asked -- in the cities and we asked -- or the towns around the area and
we asked citizens to give us input as to what are your concerns with this new -- new
aircraft. Both those projects are complete and this spring we are hoping that -- well, this
spring the Air Force will come out with what they consider to be a -- a preferred decision
location, but it's not the record of decision, but this is where they believe they want to
put this aircraft, at which point we will start the public meetings in 2011, which will be a
more in-depth economical -- or not economical, but environment impact assessment. At
the completion of that we hope in 2011, July of 2011, a record of decision will be made.
That record of decision will say this is the first location, the second location, the third
location, as to where we are going to base these aircraft. We believe we have a very
strong chance of being on that -- that first list. Us and Mountain Home Air Force Base
as well. Assuming we make that list, then, immediately they will design -- they will
release military contracts to start the designing, building of -- and remodeling of some
facilities and installation of new facilities. That will happen between 2011 and 2013 and
in 2013 we believe the first aircraft are going to show up and they will start trickling in
between the later part of 2013, all through until about 2016 we will have our full
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complement of aircraft. What's the formula for success? Well, first of all, it's Gowen
Field and the Treasure Valley, the place that we call home. Historically, as you saw in
the video, it is an outstanding training location. We do have first class facilities. We
have spent a lot of time and effort to maintain them and keep them viable. As you saw
in the very first slide we have lots of room to grow and we have -- the city of Boise has
done a great job to prohibit encroachment to the -- to the runways. We have the
training environment as I mentioned earlier. No kidding, it presents a global picture to --
to the air crew. So, you could take a picture of us flying up by the Sawtooths and you
wouldn't know if that's the mountains of Afghanistan or the mountains of Idaho or the
mountains of Montana. It is -- we are so blessed to have this -- this beautiful area to --
not beautiful, but this challenging tactical area to fly around. It's our home. It's our
country. We definitely need the community support from the men and women sitting
here in the audience, those neighbors that we have sitting around and the city and state
government support that you all are providing for us is essential for this to be a success
here in the state of Idaho. This slide kind of shows Gowen Field itself, highlighted in
yellow -- or outlined in yellow is the area that the city of Boise, the property that they
actually own, and highlighted in red is where Gowen Field -- that's where I work every
day and you see it has the two big parallel runways right there. That's critical to the
implementation of this aircraft in Idaho. Mountain Air Force Base only has one runway
and that was a little bit of a hiccup for them, but because we are so close to Mountain
Home that our -- one of our two runways is, basically, a force multiplier to them, so they
-- we are, actually, their primary divert base today right now for Mountain Home. This is
going to be the noise exposure. This is the current -- current outline of what the noise
exposure looks like operating today at the Boise airport. You can see the contour lines
that flow around and the concern they have is the 65 day-night line decibel area. That
will expand out a little bit as it was when we had the F-4s here in the earlier days. We
anticipate the noise to be similar to that. The actual noise study for the F-35, the Air
Force's version of the F-35 has not been completed. It is undergoing at this time. So,
once the Air Force gets that --that noise picture, they will overlay that onto this map and
we will figure out where the -- what the noise contours will look like. The little line you
see down to the south, if I can just kind of highlight that here. This -- this is the -- that
circled area there, that is the third runway that right now we -- we had that installed and
built. The military and the city of Boise shared the construction of that project and that's
where our C-130s went to do their assault landings and that runway will be expanded in
the future. And I'm going to show you here just on the next slide that future expansion
project. So, the area I have highlighted there is now outlined in the yellow to the south
and that yellow is, actually, the taxi ways that are going to be constructed that would
access that runway, as you can see it expands the runway out to almost 11,000 feet. I
don't remember the exact length of it. About 10,800, I think, is what it will be expanded
to. That's the future expansion and that's in the -- the airport's master plan and we
worked very closely with the city of Boise and the airport commission on development of
this -- of this plan. That, basically, concludes the briefing that I have and I'm able to
answer, maybe, any of the questions that you might -- might have.
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
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Hoaglun: Madam Mayor, I just wanted to make sure Colonel Compton might explain to
folks -- often they hear the F-35 and they hear Gowen Field and they hear Mountain
Home Air Force Base and they think that's their -- the F-35 is go going to go to both
places, but they are two separate missions that are being considered and they are not
dependent on one another. Is that correct? You might explain that a little more.
Compton: Yes. You are correct. The mission for Gowen Field is a training mission and
the mission that they are looking at putting at Mountain Home Air Force Base is an
operational mission. Mountain Home today is an operational base with their F-15s and
F-15E models. They will remain in that capacity to -- to go defend our nation and fight
our nation's war. Gowen Field would be used as a training base to train all the pilots to
go into that aircraft. They could very well just go right over to Mountain Home and that
would be their station and the two are not tied together. You are correct. That we --
Mountain Home may get them or Boise may get them. It's not a do or die one for all. It
may be split up.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Colonel Compton, then, you will -- basically, if we get these we will phase out the
A-10s by 2016 and will you -- if -- if you get them and Mountain Home, you will still use
the training location -- the same training location you -- don't you use Saylor Creek
down there?
Compton: Yes, sir. We do use Saylor Creek. The plan was -- there is multiple variance
that could happen if -- if we receive one squadron of F-35s, we could maintain the A-10
until a second squadron of F-35s showed up, at which time the A-10s would go away.
But eventually, yes, the A-10s would go away. Now, if we do not receive the F-35, A-
10s will stay at Gowen Field and we would still use the same training range, which is
Saylor Creek. You are correct.
Bird: Thank you.
Compton: Yes.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Councilman Zaremba.
Zaremba: I just wanted to comment since you mentioned the sound footprint of it, I
have lived on a number of Navy air bases and I enjoy the sound of military jets. It's a
wholly different sound than a lumbering airliner and I would welcome the sound. I look
forward to having them here.
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Compton: Well, that's -- I'm glad you feel that way. We think of it as the sound of
freedom. So, it -- I appreciate that support. That's great.
De Weerd: Well, I don't think you're the only one that feels that. My husband's Dutch
and he's from the Netherlands and he grew up listening to stories from his parents who
watched all of the sorties or the allied troops fly over their farm. It was a direct flight
from England to Germany and that was the sound of freedom. Those farmers and
citizens of the Netherlands counted those flights every time they flew over and they
knew -- they could gauge by the ones that returned how the war was faring and they
could see when success was imminent and I tell you the emotions that the Dutch really
feel for that sound, it is very positive and they hold our Air Force in high regard. So, the
sound of freedom resonates around the world and certainly I think myself and this
Council feels very proud to have many of the National Guard in our community. I think
we have a number of the military from Mountain Home Air Force Base as well. And we
are in full support of this and stand ready to help support in any way we can.
Compton: Great. Well, that's -- that's what we need to hear. That's wonderful.
Hoaglun: And I think, Madam Mayor, the one thing I heard at the briefing the other day
on the noise issue -- and that seems to have been the only concern when they did the
community briefing -- or survey in the various communities, but the fact that the plane
does not need the after burners to take off, you can adjust the altitude and landing and
taking off -- I mean you can mitigate that noise to some degree to help -- help offset
being louder than the A-10. So, that's a good thing to know.
Compton: And we will pay great attention to that. I mean we -- we live in the same
neighborhoods and we hear them and we like to have a quiet dinner and so we will do
everything we can to minimize the impact of that noise. I mean it's our home as well,
so --
De Weerd: Yeah. I think that Councilman Bisterfeldt also had mentioned the F-4s are
noisier. The noise would be similar to what you had this summer. Is that the F-15?
Compton: Yes, ma'am. It was the Oregon National Guard had their F-15s here and for
most of the time when they were here and they did not use their after burners and in the
only summertime when the temperature was I think above 80 or 85 did they have to use
their after burners to -- to take off and, honestly, the support from the citizens that lived
around the facilities, I would think -- I believe three to one the phone calls we had were
in support of -- my, gosh, we love that, that's great, can they do it again kind of a
comment, as opposed to those saying do they have to do that today type of a comment,
so --
De Weerd: Any further questions from Council?
Bird: Good job.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 13 of 45
Zaremba: Thank you. '
De Weerd: Colonel Compton, we appreciate you being here tonight and sharing -- I see
that you got the short end of the straw. Colonel Shawver, you got the free ride, uh? We
appreciate you being here as well. And thank you -- if -- if we could get some of the
post cards, so that we can keep it out on our back table, as well as counters in City Hall
as well to encourage those in attendance, there is a website. I -- was that website listed
on your Powerpoint?
Compton: No, ma'am. Yeah. idahof35.com. Please go there and you can register and
sign up and get the latest information that's happening with the -- with the program.
De Weerd: Yes. So, thank you so much.
Compton: Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
B. Historic Preservation Commission: Request for City to
Participate in Highway 16 Mitigation Plan
De Weerd: Okay. Item 6-B is our Historical Preservation Commission. I see Dr.
Hammond here.
Nary: Madam Mayor? Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, while Dr. Hammond is
coming up, on your packets there is the information regarding the historic preservation's
meeting and the information regarding this request, including some photographs. So, I
just wanted to point you to that and what the -- what the Commission was seeking in
this.
De Weerd: Good evening.
Hammond: We had a meeting with IDT -- Idaho Department of Transportation --
Nary: If you could put your name on the record, Dr. Hammond.
Hammond: Oh. Dr. Tom Hammond with the Meridian Historical Preservation
Commission, representing the rest of the commission. We had a meeting with the
Idaho Department of Transportation mitigation process for this --this project and we feel
that we should be involved in that mitigation process with the city's blessing. It won't
cost the city anything. Thought that was pretty important. It will cost us some time, but
the five members of the commission are very willing to put in the time to meet with the
mitigation committee. So, I would ask for your support.
De Weerd: Thank you, Dr. Hammond. Any comments from Council or questions?
Nary: Madam Mayor?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 14 of 45
De Weerd: Yes.
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, if it is the desire of the Council to okay
that request, the -- on the packet the -- it's a draft resolution. What we would ask --
there is some timing issues with the state as to when they need to have it completed
and I think it might be before next Tuesday, so if -- basically, all they need to do is fix
the title page to reflect all the agencies that were participants. So, if the Council is okay
with the HPC being a representative and the Mayor signing the finalized resolution, if
you could approve that, we could probably have it done before next Tuesday, because I
think that's what the state's going to be needing. I think they need it by March 2nd or
March 1st.
Hammond: I believe that's correct. Yeah.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Bird.
Bird: Isn't it the memorandum of agreement, is what they want us to pass?
Nary: Yes, sir.
Bird: Okay.
De Weerd: Well -- and that MOU is in your packet.
Bird: Need a motion?
De Weerd: Yes. Please.
Bird: I'd move that we approve of the MOU for the Historic Preservation of Highway 16,
I-84, to Idaho 44 environmental study, ITD project number AD 09-983 and for the Mayor
to sign and the Clerk to attest.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, Madam
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom, for being with us.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 15 of 45
Hammond: Thank you.
Item 7: Department Reports
B. Finance Department: 2009 Annual Financial Audit Report
De Weerd: Okay. Item 7, under Department Reports, I will move to B, as we have
already heard, A. Our Finance Department.
Kilchenmann: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, tonight we have with us Kevin
Smith from Eide-Bailey, who is our audit -- partner for our audit. And I have to say we
did actually feel song for the auditors, because I decided in the management discussion
analysis to write a history of everything that happened in Meridian numerically over the
last year, which they had to audit, which was excruciating I'm sure for them. But they
did a great job for us and we enjoy working with them and Kevin's here to present the
audit for your acceptance.
De Weerd: Thank you. Good evening, Kevin. Thank you for being here.
Smith: Good evening to you. It's my pleasure to be here again. I'm Kevin Smith, one
of the audit partners at Eide-Bailey and have come here tonight to present the financial
result of the audit of September 30th, 2009. And I will comment on Stacy's comment
related to the management discussion, that it is one of the most detailed management
discussions analysis that I have read, but it does give you agood -- good history and a
good story of what's going on in the city. And, actually, it was very well put together and
very well thought out. In the audit -- I will talk a little bit about the audit process and,
then, I will talk about just a couple highlights I wanted to bring up. First of all, we did
issue an unqualified opinion, which is a clean opinion on the financial statements and
state in our opinion that they present fairly the financial position of the City of Meridian in
all material respects. Part of the audit process when we start to plan the audit for the
year we start to develop some of our expectations of what occurred within the city
financially and we use the -- what's called the risk base approach and in that risk base
approach we analyze each account as far as the balance sheet accounts and the
income statement accounts, as you will see on the balancing income statement. And
we assess which -- areas may have inherently, you know, more risk and so we -- and,
then, we develop our procedures based on that and our procedures can include
analytical procedures where we simply look at prior year compared to the current year
and look for different fluctuations or maybe the lack of a fluctuation if we have an
expectation that it should change and we also do what we call control testing where we
look at the process and procedures that are in place and, then, select some items and
trace those items through those processes and procedures to make sure that those
processes and procedures that are described in the manuals are working as described.
And we also do what we call -- and we are required to do, actually, some unpredictable
tests. So, before we come in to do the audit we provide management with a long list of
item that we will need to look at and, then, when we come in we also add some
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 16 of 45
unpredictable tests of things that they didn't know we was going to look at and some of
those may be -- for example, in the accounts payable area we select everything over a
certain dollar amount and, then, when we come in we may lower that dollar amount and
look at other items that they weren't expecting us to look at. And so that's one of the
items that we did this year. And another area that we looked at were in the fixed assets,
because there had been a lot of additions to fixed assets -- part of it, you know, this
building that we are in. So, we lowered the dollar amount and we looked at more than
what was just -- what we had provided to them in the planning part. In the financial
statements themselves a couple of items that kind of stood out to me that I wanted to
point out in the management discussion analysis. On page seven where they start
talking about -- Stacy and her group talked about the govemmental activities and in
there described that the revenues decreased by ten percent and the expenses
increased by 11 percent. And, then, I'll point out that there was still an increase in your
fund balance of that account -- of that fund and to me that shows that there was a --
there was a plan in place and as I look at the -- as I look at the budget it demonstrates
that, because the budget was so close. On a 29 million dollar budget for the General
Fund, you know, you come about 197,000 dollars, which is -- is not a large dollar
amount. So, you really paid attention to the details of that budget and had a plan, you
know, even though you knew revenues were going to decrease, that there was still a
plan to have a positive outcome and to pay attention to that. In business type activities
on page 11 I noted that there was a -- there was a rate increase in the charges for
services and that increase, obviously, brought in more revenue related to the enterprise
or business type funds and that increase in net assets in the Enterprise Fund by
approximately 6.8 million dollars and that -- that 6.8 millions dollars I also note that -- I
know in the past there has been, you know, a conscious effort to develop, you know, net
assets within those funds for future project, you know, and as you go through the growth
that you went through in the past few years and now, you know, it's kind of time to
weather that storm with the economy being down a little bit, but, you know, all those
sewer lines, water lines, all those facilities have to be updated, upgraded, you know, all
the time and so that's what that reserve can be used for is for that -- those updates in
the future. Also on the balance sheet in the govemmental funds I noted something --
and this is, you know, fairly obvious to some, but the cash and investments of about
21.4 million dollars and the unique thing about the City of Meridian is when you look
down at the fund balance that matches pretty close, which means there is almost no
debt and you guys are aware of that, which is unique for a city this size to not be
carrying debt on the -- on the books and to have that -- you know, the cash. What it
shows in the fund balance you have cash available to meet those obligations. And also
in the Enterprise Fund I noted the same thing, about 28.7 million dollars in cash and
investments, which, you know, agrees fairly close to 29 million dollars in -- in the net
assets. And I mentioned, you know, the economy and in that also, you know, it includes
the General Fund. You know, again, weathering the storm of the economy and -- which
means that you have some reserves in place for future projects in that fund also.
Another thing that I talked about the budget -- the other thing that I wanted to point out
is the -- as we went through the audit, you know, we look for adjustments that need to
be made to the financial statements and we did not have any adjustments and that's,
you know, to commend the management for doing their job, which also means that
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 17 of 45
when you are making decisions on -- in these meetings with the financial information
you receive, that means that you can make good decisions, because there are not
adjustments to be made to those -- to those accounts and that's fairly rare, too. We do
audits that we will usually make some adjustments. We also issued a report in the back
financial of the statements with the compliance with the laws and regulations as they
relate to the internal controls and I mentioned in the beginning that we do some testing
on the internal controls and those processes and procedures and we are required to
assess those controls and do some testing. However, we don't render an opinion on
those controls per se that are in place. We also issued a letter that's called the
governance letter of those who are charged with governance, which is the Council and
the Mayor, and in that letter we talked a little bit about, you know, our responsibility is
not processes and procedures and also that we don't have any issues with
management and if we did have, you know, some issues or we had adjustments, we
would communicate it in that written form. Also, I wanted to point out that the -- we did
not issue a management letter and this is the first year that we have not issued some
type of management letter with comments on it. That management letter can come in
and those comments can come in various degrees. The most severe is called a
material weakness. Now, material weakness means that we have to make material
adjustments and an example of a material weakness -- another one, outside of just the
adjustments, is that this entire document, the financial statements of about 61 pages,
was prepared by management and if we, as auditors, were asked to prepare that, then,
that would be -- we would issue a material weakness saying that the city does not have
the proper internal controls in place or the -- the ability to prepare that document. A
significant deficiency is kind of the next level. A significant deficiency is something also
that if they could prepare part of the document, but not all of it, or if there were some
adjustments that we made that weren't of the large magnitude, then, we would issue
what's called a significant deficiency. And, then, we have what's called other comments
and recommendations and in the past we have had, you know, some of those as we
worked through some of the controls and the segregation of duties and -- but this year
we didn't have any of those. So, that means that, you know, management pays
attention to the process and procedures and they do take them very seriously. And they
call me during the year and they ask questions about some of those procedures that are
in place and that they are trying to adhere to and want to know if they have the right
segregations in place. So, with that I'd like to thank the staff for the assistance they give
us -- they provide us in the -- during the audit and we did have a couple of entries that
we call past adjustments, thing that we noted that were not of a material nature. For
example, I talked about the General Fund having a fund balance of about 29 million
dollars -- or the revenues and expenses about 29 million dollars and, then, the -- on the
budget and we had a past adjustment of about 100,000 dollars. So, just not material
overall. And also when you look at the -- at the balance sheet and the amounts are --
the amounts on the balance sheet are about 200 million dollars. So, again, just not a
significant amount for us to make. So, we pass on those, which means that
management does not make those entries. But I'd just like to thank them for their hard
work and commitment to helping us be efficient to get through the audit. Any questions
that anyone has?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 1 S of 45
De Weerd: Thank you, Kevin. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have no questions. Just a typical nice audit. Great job.
De Weerd: Questions? Comments?
Hoaglun: Just a comment, Madam Mayor. That's -- thanks for that report, Kevin. I
appreciate the work that you guys do to look at that. Oftentimes people are nervous
about that, but if you take it as it's intended you're looking at our operations and making
sure we are doing it the right way, that's always good that -- that we look at that every
year. But Ijust -- I think our Finance Department is doing a fantastic job. It just puts
pressure on them, though, I mean to get an unqualified opinion, no adjustments in the
financials, no management letter, how are they going to do an encore for next year?
That's really going to be tough. That's a tall order. But they did it this year and we know
they we will strive for that again next year. So, we appreciate your work on that and
taking a close look at things.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Smith: Thank you.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Bird: Before I make a motion to accept the financial, I want to thank you and all the
department heads and all the employees for us getting a report like this. The
management letter -- not having one is because of you guys. Stacy, your department is
first class. We have always known that. All our departments our first class. And I, for
one, who -- the four of us councilmen up here are the ones that are responsible for the
dollars and cents and when we get reports like this and no management letter -- and I
have been here since the first time Kevin showed up here and this is the first time we
haven't had a management letter, it's because of the hard work of all of our employees
and of all of our directors and under your leadership and I appreciate it very much.
De Weerd: And our thanks go to you and your staff, Stacy, and certainly we are all in
the same boat together and appreciate the leadership and the training that your staff
provides and the interest of the departments to participate. So, it is a team effort and I
appreciate your comments, Mr. Bird.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 19 of 45
Zaremba: I also appreciate and I appreciate the validation of the confidence that we
place in the people that keep us in the black and report it correctly and that's all
wonderful. I believe there is a motion on the floor to accept the audit and I second it.
Bird: I haven't, but Iwill --
Zaremba: Oh, I thought you did make a motion.
Bird: -- make it. I move that we accept the fiscal year 2009 audit as provided by Eide-
Bailey.
Zaremba: I'll second that.
De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second. Do I have discussion? Madam
Clerk?
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
C. Finance Department: General Fund Revenue Report
De Weerd: Congratulations. Thank you for being here. Okay. Item 7-C, our General
Fund revenue report. This is a follow-up to a budget item approved by Council last
summer and tum this over to Stacy.
Kilchenmann: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I set before you the schedule
that I e-mailed you. It's just the revenue projection and it's dated as of January 31st and
as you remember we discussed at the time we did the one percent across the board in
October and we discussed doing it. Todd reminded me that exactly six months will be
April, but because of the dollar amount's so small we can do it in March and, actually,
Barb said March would be a good time. But if you look at that schedule and you just
look at the highlights budget-to-actual projections, we are about 100,000 dollars under
budget at this point and that's being -- I'm being really conservative as far as the
numbers like interest and so forth. But I think as far as property taxes and revenue
sharing, we have met that our -- the budget targets we set and that we can easily go
ahead and do the merit increase. The melt increase, actually, for the whole city only
totals about 76,000 dollars. So, I would recommend that we go ahead and do it on the
expense side. The only anomaly we have or event we have so far that we haven't
planned are the contracted legal expenses. Right now they are about -- I think end of
January they are about 127,000. So, that's the only variance that I think we have in the
budget. So, any questions about that?
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 20 of 45
Bird: I have none.
Hoaglun: No.
Zaremba: No.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: I think we should implement our -- our April raise. We were leaving it up to you
and you just stated that it was okay.
Kilchenmann: Yes. And I --
Bird: And Ithink -- I think we need to get it so it's implemented April 1st.
Kilchenmann: Do you want to do it in March or April? We can do it either.
Bird: March would be fine with me, if we can implement it in March, that's fine.
Kilchenmann: Timing for us works well in March, if --
Bird: Is that okay with the rest of the Council?
Hoaglun: Yeah.
Zaremba: March is about six days away. Is that doable?
Kilchenmann: Well, it's the end of March.
De Weerd: The end of March.
Kilchenmann: March 20th. It would actually be --
Zaremba: I'm in favor.
Hoaglun: Yeah. Me, too.
De Weerd: Council or --
Bird: I have no problem with it, Mayor. That's fine with me.
De Weerd: Mr. Nary, I guess it would also probably be appropriate to draft a letter to
the union to let them know, since this was a negotiation item as well. Okay.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 21 of 45
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I will both do it informally by a-mail and,
then, a formal letter, too, to supplement that.
De Weerd: Okay.
Nary: But I will take care of it.
De Weerd: Okay.
Zaremba: And we are talking about all employees, not just the union; right?
De Weerd: Yes. But that's the only --
Bird: That was part of the contract negotiations.
Zaremba: Cool.
De Weerd: And, Stacy, maybe you want to be the one that gets an a-mail out to all
employees, so --
Kilchenmann: Sure. We would love to do that.
De Weerd: It would be nice for Finance to take and -- they can play the positive role.
Kilchenmann: That would be great. We will do that.
De Weerd: That's great. Well, thank you for that report and since it was approved in
the budget, I don't think I need an official motion. No. Just the acknowledgment of all
three.
Bird: The way it was approved in the budget was upon the decision of Finance, the
CFO, and she just give us the go.
Nary: Yes.
De Weerd: Okay.
Bird: So, if we get in trouble call her.
De Weerd: It's all your fault. And since the auditor is sitting here listening to us --
Bird: He's grinning, too.
D. Finance Department: Updated Purchasing Policy
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 22 of 45
De Weerd: Okay. The next item, Item 7-D, is the purchasing policy. That should be in
front of you, Council.
Kilchenmann: This is a accumulation of way more time than we thought it would take,
but this is -- our last purchasing policy was done when I first started and that way longer
ago than we are going to talk about. It's rather old. Hasn't been updated. And so one
of my goals for Keith when he started with us was that we would update the purchasing
policy. City Hall kind of got in the way of that a little bit, so we finally have it ready for
you to bring. I hope you have all had a chance to review it. We had a lot of assistance
and help from the Mayor and the department directors in crafting the policy and I think a
lot of vetting with them. So, Keith is going to present kind of the major changes, give
you a chance to ask questions, and, then, we do want to look at adding a green
purchasing policy piece in there and Tom is -- we don't have it written into the policy, but
we do have an addendum and so Tom is just going to briefly explain to you how that
works. So, with that I will give it over to Keith.
Watts: Thank you, Stacy. Madam Mayor. Council Members. You also have a
document that is -- the title of it is changes to the purchasing policy and the reasons for
the changes and one of the -- one of the biggest changes that we made was to remove
the procedures -- the departmental procedures from the policy as those get modified as
we learn better procedures and processes within our department and working with all
the other departments and I wanted to be able to freely modify our processes without
coming back and having to modify a purchasing policy, which is, essentially, the way
that most policies are written. So, the department procedures will be maintained by the
Finance Department and the Purchasing Department and when we need to modify
something or we find a better way to do that, we work with our departments and come
up with our new processes. The processes that we use we have written down in a
statement -- or SOP, which are our standard operating procedures. I have worked with
departments for many many months going back and forth modifying and coming into
agreements on how we would process our paperwork and do our processes and I have
had a lot of assistance from the Public Works Department since we do -- you know, the
majority of your construction contracts and a lot of our bid documents come from Public
Works. So, I wanted to thank Public Works for helping us out a lot. But we have come
to agreement on those. We have several that we will probably continue to update and
change as we find better ways and will implement more SOPs as we determine the
need. One of the -- the next change was to remove the -- or give the construction
managers and Public Works the ability to create change orders on the fly when they are
out in the field if it was within the approved Council budget for that project and within the
original scope of services for that project and Tom Barry also gave me some
suggestions -- or some examples of solutions and the pros and cons of waiting to come
to Council for those change orders and the benefits of being able to do that in the field
on the fly, which, typically, saves money, because time is money as you know in
construction. Those -- you have those also. Those were also sent to you a week or so
ago for review as well. I guess with that I would ask if any of you Council members
have any questions on the process so far?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 23 of 45
De Weerd: Council, questions on the document in front of you? Have you had a
chance to review it?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Zaremba: First off, great work, but not only a good project, but well done and I
appreciate everybody that contributed to it and the fact that it's happening --
Watts: Thank you.
Zaremba: -- is a good thing and I pretty much like everything it said. I, actually, have --
don't have anything I would change, but I have a couple things I would like to suggest to
add and one of them would be paragraph five, the purchasing authority. I know some
place later it mentions that having it be in the budget is a requirement, but I would kind
of like -- you can't state too many times and in the sentence that you have here
introducing this paragraph you say each department director and/or authorized
purchasing personnel within the city shall have the authority to acquire goods or
services. I would add there: Previously approved in their department budget and, then,
in accordance with the following guidelines. I just think that should be stated in that
place and would ask that that be added. Then, the other subject is more of a
discussion. Paragraph three is purchasing forms and I know from the work that my wife
does that both private companies and government agencies struggle with regulatory
compliance and updating of forms and people make copies of forms and they are using
one that was from three years ago and there is legal problems with old forms and I'm
just suggesting that under paragraph three we have some language that gives us
control over the versions that are out there. If it's a hard copy they need to not keep
making copies of old ones, but get new ones from purchasing. If it's an electronic or
digital copy, they need to not import them onto their own desktop and keep you using
their old one, they need to -- they need to link to a database someplace that you can
update and every time they go to it they get a new one. So, whatever that language is
and I have suggested some that may not be exactly what we want, but I do think we
need to include version control of all documents.
Watts: Thank you, Councilman Zaremba. We can add that -- a statement that instructs
the employees to go to the purchasing intranet site and download those forms directly
from the intranet.
Zaremba: Each time they need them.
Watts: Correct.
Zaremba: As opposed to saving them someplace and repeating them. Yes.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 24 of 45
Watts: Yes. And for the purchasing authority I agree we will add those -- that small
statement in that first opening sentence as well.
Zaremba: Cool.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: And are we -- being electronically dumb, are we capable of when they download,
depending on whatever department it is, we can keep the numerical order going in our
purchase orders?
Watts: Well, all purchase orders are going to be issued through the purchasing
department through MIP. Those will be done by -- either myself or Kathy right now.
The departments do not go online and do -- they don't issue purchase orders, they don't
issue bids, RFPs, contracts, those are all written by the Purchasing Department.
Bird: Did I misunderstand what David just said, they could get onto the -- and pull up a
PO?
Watts: Not a PO. There are other forms. They are intemal forms that we use within us,
so -- yeah. The intemal forms would be like --
Bird: They can get a request. They can get a request.
Watts: Yes. Exactly.
Bird: But not a PO.
Watts: Correct.
Bird: Okay.
Watts: Like a requisition form or --
Bird: You can keep the numerical order.
Watts: Exactly. That is correct, sir.
Bird: That's all I was worried about.
Watts: Okay.
Hoaglun: I just want to say when I went through this and I talked to Keith and since
Tom's here from Public Works, too, having gone through the dispute with a contractor
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February 23, 2010
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on changes made out in the field, anytime we can put in there written requirements or
written changes, we need to stress that things be written, because we can't -- you know,
he said and he said, we get into trouble with that, so in writing, written, however we
want to say that, where ever we can we can't stress that enough, so --
Watts: As we do as well. I, actually, have a couple of copies to show you. We do have
those forms already designed within the city and we are using them, but I do have
samples I can bring up and show you as well.
De Weerd: Any other questions or comments from Council?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I got a question -- well, are we just through two or are we going --
Watts: Yes.
Bird: Oh. I don't have a question on that part. I'm -- it's farther on down.
Watts: We are getting there. The next change that I have is we have modified some of
the dollar limits from the previous. purchasing policy and we are requesting to raise the
amount for a purchase order. Right now it is from zero to 5,000 dollars does not require
a written purchase order. With the economic conditions today I was suggesting that we
would raise that to 10,000 dollars with an employee with their -- with the proper authority
within their own department could go out and procure a good or service for 10,000
dollars that without issuing a purchase order from the Purchasing Department. That
change also was -- the dollar limit for contracts to come to Council. Right now the dollar
limit in the existing purchasing policy states that the Mayor has a 25,000 dollar signing
authority without having to go through Council. We were suggesting to raise that to
50,000 dollars before it has to come through Council. The department would need their
department liaison's approval and, then, run that through the Mayor to -- for signature
without going to Council. The state statutes --that is within the state statutes as well.
Bird: You want questions on this now?
Watts: Yes, sir.
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: This point. The first thing, if you don't -- if you don't require a purchase order up to
10,000, how do you track it if there is a problem?
Watts: That is done internally. Departments keep track of their own purchases, just as
they do now of the 5,000 dollar limit.
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February 23, 2010
Page 26 of 45
Bird: And what if it sits on somebody's desk for 30 days?
Watts: Well, that's -- whether you have a purchase order or not, we don't have any
control over that.
Bird: At least with a purchase order you find the supplier, I can call up and say I have
not been paid for purchase order such and such and such. You can walk -- you or
Kathy can walk right in there and pull it out and find out why it hasn't been paid and
stuff. You need a purchase order to follow. I think we need to stay at the 5,000 dollars.
Kilchenmann: Councilman Bird, we actually don't -- we don't trace now by purchase
order, so when a -- when a supplier calls Jennifer we usually trace back just by the
invoice.
Bird: I just -- I just -- we just ran down one the other day by a purchase order.
Kilchenmann: That's not how we typically do it.
Bird: Why do we issue them?
Kilchenmann: And some of our largest -- it's a control. It's to give an approval process,
so it's granting approval to make the purchase before it's made is the principal reason
for it.
Bird: I personally still think 5,000 should be our limit. But that's -- I'm one.
Watts: I would like to state that the changes in the dollar limit is more closely
resembling the statutes is what I was trying to get at as well.
Bird: The statues of what?
Watts: Approvals of when -- correct. Correct, sir.
Kilchenmann: And the reason -- I guess the reason -- the underlying reason for
changing is because there is a cost to doing a purchase order and so you're doing a
cost benefit analysis and that's -- that's why we don't do purchase orders for a dollar or
five dollars or every purchase.
Bird: I don't disagree with five, ten dollars, but I do disagree over five.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
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February 23, 2010
Page 27 of 45
Zaremba: I agree with the need to have controls. I think we are very fortunate we have
department directors that we can trust. We now have a purchasing department that we
didn't have when the previous laws were made and I think when the previous
purchasing policy was made it was long enough ago that 5,000 dollars, then, is worth
10,000 dollars now. So, we are not raising the purchasing power of -- of what we are
allowing people to do necessarily. The creep in prices and other stuff have -- have
made 5,000 dollars seem like not a lot of money, unfortunately. I mean I don't cant' that
much around with me, but in getting the city's work done there are things that need to
move a little faster and the other piece that we have come to in raising the limit before
you need a City Council liaison signature, I agree with that as well. It isn't that we have
given up controls, we have a new Purchasing Department and we have directors that
we trust and as long as we have put in the statement that it has to have been in the
budget in the first place, the approved budget that Council has seen, I don't have a
problem with raising the limit we are talking about to 10,000 and the other ones we are
going to talk about to 25,000. Just a personal opinion.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor, my thoughts on that.
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I don't have a problem with raising to the 10,000. I think what Councilman
Zaremba has mentioned is I think accurate. In my mind the department head is
responsible for -- for that amount and if there is a problem paying, if the vendor is
looking to be paid, I think we need to go back and be asking the department head
what's going on here, you know, why is this being delayed, is there is a problem, that
sort of thing. If it's -- I guess it's going back to the source. It's not going to Keith and
having him to go back to the department head, it's going to come back right to the
department head. I like -- I hope they think they are well paid and they are hired to
manage and make sure things are done appropriately, but I think we can go there and
make that work. We do need to streamline the process. For the amount of work that's
being run through Finance and our Purchasing Division, we are a big enough city there
are a lot of high dollar amount purchases that are going through there and we need to
make sure -- we need to account for all the dollars, but how we do that we have to be
mindful of those big numbers we are doing the right way, because there is a lot of
requirements out there and we want to meet those, so -- and I know the department
heads can make sure they meet the requirements for the smaller dollar amounts.
Watts: And Madam Mayor and Council Members, I'd also like to make a couple more
statements. We have not changed the requirements or the -- the requirements that an
employee does for the purchases under 25,000 dollars. We haven't modified that
language at all. And also I'd like to state that we have implemented a purchasing
authorization form that we have sent to the department heads and they are talking to
their employees who are authorized to make purchases, so when I get a request from
the department, I know what that individual employee -- his dollar limit is and they know
what that limit is. So, if I get a request for 20,000 dollars and the employee -- in our
form, they have to sign the form, their department head signs the form, and I sign it as
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 28 of 45
well. If they request something over their dollar limit, then, I go back to their supervisor
or their department head and obtain authorization for that purchase. It's just another
control we have put in place.
Hoaglun: I'm glad you said that with Eide-Bailey here. We have controls.
Watts: I will go onto my next change -- the next change that I have listed in that
document as well is -- I have added the statutory requirements for a bid protest to our
policy and our bid documents. With the -- with the climate that we have now we get
bidders more apt to protest a bid whether they are going to win or not. They have
nothing to lose and with the economic climate there is, we have seen more bid protests
and we see a lot more public records requests right now and it's going to grow I'm afraid
this next year. So, we put that statute -- or we put the statutory requirements for the bid
protest in our bid documents. We put it in our policy as well, which we will post online
and we are waiting for that protest period to pass before we bring any bids or awards
back to Council. That way we don't jump the gun or think we have something awarded
and, then, have a vendor come back after the award from Council. That's another
process we have changed. We have also added a credit card usage section to the
purchasing policy. We haven't had one before. With that we have some of the smaller
changes that's in that document as well that you have been provided. If you have any
questions on those I'd feel free to answer those for you as well.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any comments on this part?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Zaremba: Just a question. The wordings on these, again, match what the state would
ask for?
Watts: Yes. We are actually still below the state requirements for statutes. One of the
-- one of the requests that I had made also put up for your consideration is to -- for the
Mayor to delegate a signing authority for purchase orders for 25,000 dollars and below.
Right now the purchasing manager only has a 5,000 dollar limit on a purchase order. I
would suggest and recommend to raise that to 25,000 dollars to help speed up the
process as well. And that's in the last page of those changes.
Hoaglun: Keith and Madam Mayor, would you mind going over the -- if you delegate the
signing authority to POs to the purchase manager, who reviews that? Can you walk
through that review, that control process for that?
Watts: Well, that -- the requisition would come from the department. It would either be
signed by the department head or his authoirized personnel who have signed the
purchasing authorization form. That requisition would, then, just come to the
purchasing department and I would make sure the quotes -- everything was in order, cut
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 29 of 45
the purchase order and sign the purchase order. Anything over that they would have to
go to the liaison and I am -- I am suggesting and recommending that we change that
internal process right now, the liaisons are signing purchase orders. I would rather have
the liaisons signing the requisitions, so we don't even move forward with getting quotes
or going out for a bid until we have the liaison's approval. It seems a much better
process.
Hoaglun: Yeah. I certainly like that change. Is it possible if a Council member and
liaison to the -- you know, pick an agency, if they said, well, I still want to see that, can
you give me a copy of anything you have signed, is that something you would be --
Watts: Absolutely. We could do that on a weekly basis. We could put the POs in your
box if you'd like to see them. We can even a-mail -- we scan all of the signed POs as
well. We have them electronically.
Hoaglun: Okay. I'd like that. If we wanted to have that done, that might be a good way
to do that. Thank you.
Watts: Uh-huh.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Keith, getting back to the bid protest, you got any reason why we seem to be
getting a lot of protests?
Watts: I believe it's just the economic climate. I sit on a purchasing board here in Idaho
and I talk with ACHD, Ada County, ITD, DEQ, Boise and we are -- apparently we are
getting fewer protests than all of those agencies are. They are inundated from them.
And it's been that way for over a year they tell me. So, it doesn't make we feel so bad.
Bird: You guys ought to maybe meet with
keep from having bid processes -- protests
decent plans out on the --
some private owners and find out how they
It -- I think it starts with making sure we get
Watts: That is correct, sir. Good plans and specs are the key.
Bird: And we sometimes do that. That -- that's the touchiest situation going is those bid
protests. It's not fair to the bidders and it's certainly not fair to us.
Watts: That's why I like giving them the process up front. We are willing -- we are
open, we talk about it, if you have got issues here is how you approach -- the statute
gives a bidder three days to protest a bid specification. They get ten days after award
to protest an award. So, we tell them that up front, this is your requirement, if you don't
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 30 of 45
like something you have to do it in this time frame, if you don't like the specifications, if
you want to protest the award, you have ten days to protest the award.
De Weerd: Any other questions? Okay.
Watts: That pretty much sums up all the changes, I believe.
Kilchenmann: For Tom.
Watts: Oh, yes. Tom, would you like to talk about the -- yes.
Barry: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. One amendment exists
before you. I believe Mr. Watts has passed this out and included it with your packet this
evening. This is an amendment that we were unable to get into the original purchasing
policy, it's something that the Public Works Department, the Finance Department,
certainly the Planning Department has an interest in and so it's my pleasure to present
this to you. Essentially, this was -- is language that's before you that discusses a green
purchasing statement, which is a statement that, essentially, encourages, but does not
require staff in the City of Meridian to try to procure goods that are environmentally
friendly or sustainable, such as recycled materials, and those kinds of things, whether
they be post-consumer recovered materials or pre-consumer recovered materials. This
particular language, again, does not obligate the city to purchase any of that kind of
material, but does encourage it if those materials make sense, they are practical,
financially responsible, then, in those cases we would like to encourage the
incorporation of purchasing those types of products. The recommendation here is that
this language, if it passes your approval, is some language that we can, then, insert
back into the purchasing policy in a place that Finance can determine where it should
go. But we'd like to -- this is the language we are proposing. The reason behind this
language is a couple fold. First of all, this language does comply also with the energy --
the ten year energy action plan that was presented to the City Council some months
ago and it's been worked on by the Planning Department, in coordination with several
other departments. It's also language that would potentially benefit us from a granting
standpoint and so having this kind of language may serve to our benefit particularly
acquiring certain types of grants which seek to incorporate the use of products or goods
that do contain some sort of sustainability component to them. Also from the Public
Works Department standpoint, you know that we have begun to work on an
accreditation process for our department and one of the best management practices
that we have come across in our work is to have not only a purchasing policy, which we
do have, but also that that purchasing policy include language very similar to this and so
this does forward the Public Works Department's desire as well towards accreditation as
it relates to this specific element that is not mandated by any stretch of the means, it's
not required, so I don't want to suggest any of that, but it does seem that with our
interest as a community to set an example for those who do business in our community,
this is a good step forward to -- to be the leader and include these kinds of purchasing
policies in our every day practice, the good work that we do on behalf of the citizens of
the City of Meridian. So, I'll stand for questions if you have any and between myself and
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 31 of 45
the planning director and the finance director I'm sure we can get your questions or
concerns addressed.
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom. Any comments or questions?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I absolutely think it's a good idea and just in thinking of the process of how
we end up awarding bids, there are agencies that use a point system. You get a certain
number of points if you have met all the specifications, you get a certain number of
points if you're close to the price range that we were expecting. You get a certain of
number points if you promise to employ Meridian citizens. You get a certain number of
points if you incorporate green procedures and products in it and I don't know if we want
to get that complicated in --
De Weerd: No.
Zaremba: -- in how our bid process works, but I could see a way to incorporate this
maybe by saying if we have two bids that are fairly equal, we will tip it in favor of the one
that's providing a green service or a green product and make that known that that will be
the deciding factor. I don't know how you would do that either, but --
Watts: Councilman Zaremba, that we do not have the statutory ability to do so.
Zaremba: Okay.
Watts: That -- in an RFP process we would have that when we are looking at
proposals. If two bids come in with the exact same amount, it -- the Council does have
that ability to pick the bid that they would like to go with and this might be a determining
factor in that. We are not making this an awarding criteria, we are just simply trying to
get our employees to start thinking green and looking for these solutions.
Barry: But -- I'd also like to add that, as Keith did point out, it is true you can include that
in an RFP rating sheet and Public Works uses a similar rating sheet where we talk
about experience, you know, qualification, time to do the project, scope and those kinds
of things and this could be something that we could include. It wouldn't be a dominant
factor, of course, but it would be one thing that possibly we could include, particularly if
you're talking about recycled steel, say, for example, for certain types of infrastructure or
those kinds of things. So, again, we want to emphasize that this language does not
obligate the city to do that, only when it makes sense, it's pragmatic, it's financially
reasonable and responsible, in those cases we'd like to encourage it under that
environment, so --
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 32 of 45
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I was just going to say when I read this and listened to Tom, I was in favor of
this. It's very straight forward. It applies a common sense approach to it. We are
encouraging our citizens to recycle and we have a very high percentage of our residents
who do recycle, so this keeps it fairly simple, straight forward, and I like that and that's
why I think we ought to -- we ought to include it.
De Weerd: Employ the KISS principle.
Hoaglun: Absolutely.
Zaremba: I'm the one that makes things complicated.
De Weerd: Yeah. That was mind boggling.
Zaremba: Just trying to put some teeth in it, you know.
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom.
Barry: Great. Thank you. So, if the Council so chooses, then, to adopt the purchasing
policy, we would ask that this language, if it meets your approval, also be included, so
we can get it under the same resolution number and, therefore, incorporate it into the
same document. Thanks for your time.
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Council, are there any additional questions for Keith?
Zaremba: Just a comment. I can see a lot of work went into this and I appreciate it.
Watts: Thank you.
De Weerd: More than you can imagine.
Zaremba: Well, it's a big subject and a very serious one.
Nary: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Nary.
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, if the desire of the Council is to approve
the policy with the recommended changes or additions that were proposed, we can,
then, work with purchasing, get a resolution on next week or the following week, and
have that back in front of you for final approval.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
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De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Our preference is to get -- get one drafted and I want to read it, hard copy, first,
with all the changes and stuff, all the proposals, before I vote on it.
De Weerd: Okay. When can that draft -- or when can that be e-mailed out to Council?
At least a final form.
Nary: The final form of the policy?
De Weerd: Uh-huh.
Nary: I guess this week.
Watts: Yeah. We can have it tomorrow.
Nary: Yeah.
De Weerd: Okay. And a resolution could be prepared --
Nary: By tomorrow.
De Weerd: Okay.
Watts: Thank you.
E. Police Department: Budget Amendment for Canine
Acquisition for $7,000.00
De Weerd: Thank you, Keith. And -- and team. Okay. Item 7-E, Police Department.
Colaianni: Madam Mayor, Council Members, what I believe you have in front of you
tonight is spending authority for 7,000 dollars to purchase an additional K-9 for the K-9
unit and I believe or hope that before the chief left he briefed you all on this. Last
summer the K-9 unit raised -- went out and raised money through eating hot wings and
selling coffee and doing a number of things to try and grow our K-9 unit. So, we were
able to add a fifth dog and put him on day shift where he's able to assist in schools in
our school district in our city with keeping drugs out of the schools and we were
successful in that and so now we are to the point where we need to pay for this dog.
They both were purchased out of Holland and flown to Alabama where they had some
initial training and they are here now. We are stress testing the dogs and putting them
through behavior -- social behavior and Ivan and Carlo are their names and so this is
just the last piece of requesting to use those funds to purchase these dogs. I'll stand for
any questions.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 34 of 45
De Weerd: Those are not Dutch names.
Colaianni: They are not. I don't know how -- I don't know how they get named, but Ivan
was actually named Ewan and it was a little hard to call that dog by that name, so we
changed it to Ivan and it's worked so far.
De Weerd: You Americanized it, uh?
Colaianni: Yeah.
De Weerd: We are good at that.
Colaianni: Good observation. I had the same one, Mayor.
Zaremba: But the handlers do have to speak Dutch.
Colaianni: Got to know a little bit.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor, I just wanted to ask -- I understand there was some
controversy in the fundraising. Who actually did win the hot wings contest? That was
the fire department.
Colaianni: I cannot tell a lie. It was the fire department.
Hoaglun: Okay.
Bird: Anderson made sure of that.
Colaianni: There is a rematch coming in the future. We are going to get together and
find another good charity. I know they did theirs for the bum out fund and we are
looking at some other things. We did some things this year with Christmas and children
from challenged families and stuff and so we are looking at doing other things this year,
too. But we want a rematch.
Hoaglun: Okay.
Colaianni: But that's all I have. If you have any questions I would be happy to --
De Weerd: Any questions?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I move we approve the budget amendment for K-9 acquisition for 7,000
dollars.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 35 of 45
Bird: Second.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Since I had two seconds, I
imagine there are none. Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Colaianni: Thank you.
Item 8: Items Moved From Consent Agenda
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 9: Action Items
A. Public Hearing: MDA 10-001 Champion Park (fka Parkstone) by
Keith Borup Located at North of E. Ustick Road (approximately
1,500 feet west of N. Eagle Road) off of N. Leslie Way, East
Side of N. Justin Avenue (Lots 80-104, Block 18, Champion
Park Subdivision No. 5): Request for Modification to the
Number of Single-Family Detached (from 299 to 311) and
Townhouse /Patio Home (from 76 to 52) Building Lots Listed
in the Amended Development Agreement
De Weerd: So, we will move to Item 9-A. The application has been withdrawn, but we
do need a motion to accept the withdrawal; is that correct, Mr. Nary?
Nary: I'm sorry, Madam Mayor?
Zaremba: We usually do it.
Bird: Yeah.
De Weerd: A motion to accept the --
Nary: Yes.
De Weerd: Okay.
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February 23, 2010
Page 36 of 45
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Zaremba: I move we accept the withdrawal of MDA 10-001.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the request to withdraw Item 9-A.
Do we need a voice vote?
Nary: Yes.
De Weerd: Madam Clerk.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
B. Continued from February 2, 2010 MFP 09-004 Southridge
Subdivision No. 1 by Linder 109, LLC, Meridian Library District
and Joint School District No. 2 Located at Southwest Corner of
West Overland Road and South Linder Road: Request for
Modification to the Street Sections Shown on the Final Plat to
Include the Addition of Detached Sidewalks Along Spanish
Sun and Spanish Fork Streets; and Modification to the
Roadway Improvements Along the South Boundary of Phase 1
to Reduce the Amount of Asphalt and Concrete Curb
De Weerd: Item 9-B has been requested to continue to March 2. Do I have a motion?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I move that we continue MFP 09-004 to our regularly scheduled meeting of
March 2nd, 2010.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to continue this item to March 2nd. All those
in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carved.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 37 of 45
C. Public Hearing MDA 10-002 Bridgetower Crossing Office by
Primeland Investment Group, LLC Located at the Southwest
Corner of W. McMillan Road and N. Linder Road: Request to
Modify Several Provisions of the Recorded Development
Agreement (Inst. #108059801)
De Weerd: Item 9-C is a public hearing on MDA -- MDA 10-002. I will open this public
hearing with staff comments.
Parsons: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. Before you this evening
is an application for a DA modification. The subject site is on the southwest comer of
McMillan Road and Linder Road. To the north of the property is vacant land, zoned C-
G. To the east is city property -- or single family residential zoned R-4 -- or R-15 and R-
8 and also some Ada County parcels with some agricultural land occurring on that as
well. To the west is Bridge -- adjacent Bridgetower Crossing Subdivision, so single
family residential zoned R-4. And, then, as you can see here to the south is, again,
another rural residence with some agricultural land. If you recall, this property was
before you in 2007 for a rezone and a preliminary plat approval, which approved 11 lots
and one common lot. This configuration that you see in this map before you this
evening is how the lots are currently recorded as Bridgetower No. 11 and No. 12 and
that -- those plats were recorded and finalized in 2005. So, as I mentioned, with that
rezone, the applicant went through a DA mod back in 2008 and the concept plan on the
left-hand side was the concept plan that coincided with that preliminary plat that they
submitted before you. It showed 12 office pad sites, several access points. They were
converting the western drive aisle into a reduced street section for a local street
connectivity, one connected to McMillan Road and the other one connected to the
southem property boundary and that roadway was known as Pengrove Way. The
applicant also on the southem portion proposed to provide a local street known as
Loretta Street to Linder Road and have those four -- or, excuse me, six commercial lots
take access to that street and, then, go onto Linder Road. Now, the application before
you this evening -- you can see on the right-hand side their proposed concept plan.
Again, nothing to the north is changing with that plan. However, the southem portion
has changed dramatically from what you see on the left. Now they are proposing one
lot and they are still proposing access to Linder Road, but that is now proposed as a
commercial driveway, rather than a local street. The applicant still has -- before you
tonight also was a final plat that coincided with this concept plan as well. On the
southem portion you can see that they are showing two commercial driveways to
Pengrove Way, which is and will in the future possibly be a local street. So, per our
ordinance those driveways meet our ordinance. They are required to provide local
street access and they are providing that. And also in that -- in that same ordinance
section it requires us to restrict access to Linder Road. However, it is up to the
discretion of the Council to allow that access point. So, that's really the outstanding
issue before you tonight is whether or not you want to allow that access to happen to
Linder. I would inform Council that ACHD, when they acted on this application, they
were in favor of the local street connectivity and now that they -- the concept plan has
changed and they are proposing commercial driveways, they are no longer in support of
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 38 of 45
that access to Linder Road. They feel like the access has adequate circulation with the
local road along the western boundary. I have received comments from the applicant.
They are in agreement with the conditions of the DA provision and so as I mentioned,
the only outstanding before you this -- outstanding issue before you this evening is,
really, that access point to Linder and staff has also provided on this slide the DA
provisions that we have recommended changes and, then, of course, some existing DA
provisions. But we did add that DA provision and I apologize it's not numbers, but it's
the last one at the bottom, that if you do grant that access that it be consistent with what
they are showing on the concept plan. And that concludes my presentation. Staff is
recommending approval. With that I will be happy to answer any questions you may
have.
De Weerd: Thank you, Bill. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none.
Zaremba: I got lost in the access to Linder. Staff is recommending approval of the
driveway access to Linder for the church; is that correct?
Parsons: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, staff is leaving it in your court to
make that, based on ordinance. Staff feels like the church can adequately take access
from the two driveways to Pengrove Way.
Zaremba: And not from Linder.
Parsons: And not from Linder.
Zaremba: Okay.
De Weerd: Anything further from Council?
Zaremba: I would be inclined to agree that access to Linder probably isn't helpful by a
driveway.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor, a question for Bill. ACHD was fine with Loretta Street as
commercial development approved concept plan, but we go to one big lot, which would
be a church, and they still need access to Linder Road, although they can also access --
just like the approved plan, the propose they want one access to Linder and that it also
be an access to the street behind there and I'm just not sure I see the difference, other
than the fact instead of six buildings to go to one and there is, actually, a little bit less
usage, because you're more restrictive to time and I guess I'm thinking out loud, did
they give a reason why that would change that you recall?
Parsons: Madam Mayor, Council Member Hoaglun, we haven't received official
comment from ACRD. I did receive an a-mail from Mindy Wallace at ACHD and she
said that they would not be supportive of that curb cut as a driveway. We had this issue
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 39 of 45
off -- with the church on Stoddard Road. I think ACHD had some policy in place that if
you're going to do a commercial driveway they want some mechanism to have cross-
connectivity like we do, we want cross-access, we want to limit access onto Linder
Road, and I think in order for them to approve this access -- and I'm making
assumptions here and I don't like to do that, but what I'm thinking -- from their policy
standpoint is they would want that shared at the southern property boundary, so that
property at some future date could have cross-access and shared access to Linder
Road. That's how their policy is written. So, when it's a local street -- on the left-hand
side that Loretta Street also aligns with the street across the -- across Linder. So, that
made sense at that time from their standpoint. And also when staff looked at Loretta
Street and that rezone and this concept plan in '07, we did not have that current access
-- we didn't have that provision in the ordinance at that time. So, things have changed
since the applicant's come through the city and now we have this provision. There is
nothing -- I mean we can -- staff can only make a recommendation, but it's based on our
ordinance. My understanding is in order to get this through ACHD they are going to
have to go before their commission and ask for them to grant that.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Zaremba: Can you back up the display to one that shows the properties around it? And
I think you just mentioned one thing that would be my concern -- and I see what's
happening. If you have a full intersection where you have a street on both sides, it
makes more sense to people -- the people going up and down Linder understand that
it's an intersection, because you can see that visually. I'm usually uncomfortable where
a street ends with a driveway on the other side of it. That configuration to me asked for
problems. If for somehow people just don't see the driveway, they don't expect vehicles
to be coming in and out of it and I don't know whether that's just anecdotal or there
really are more accidents in a place where there is a driveway opposite a street, but it
does make me uncomfortable. A street would make sense, but I agree with not -- not
liking the driveway there.
Hoaglun: Question for Bill.
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: And this might be more appropriate for the applicant, but will -- at that point
Linder is still a two lane road and when it gets closer to the intersection it has a center
turn lane. As this develops will that be a -- will they be providing ground for a center
turn lane at that proposed driveway?
Parsons: That's a good question. I don't have a specific answer for you. Maybe the
applicant could shine some light on that, since he's involved with the plat and ACRD on
that.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 40 of 45
Hoaglun: Thank you.
Canning: Madam Mayor, before the applicant comes up, with regard to Councilman
Hoaglun's question about the street versus driveway, it's unfortunate ACHD isn't here,
because we can guess all night as to what they might have been thinking. But their
access policy is similar to our own -- has become more restricted in the recent years.
So, it could have been in 2008 that they were working under different access policies at
that time. Just another maybe that's what they were thinking to throw out there.
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. If there is no further questions for the staff, at this time I
would ask the applicant to come forward. Thank you for waiting.
Christensen: Oh, it was my pleasure. I played a lot of Solitaire. My name is Chuck
Christensen. I am employed by Quadrant Consulting, whose address is 1904 West
Overland Road. I'm here representing the owner Primeland Investments. We have
reviewed the staff report and don't have any objections to any of the things outlined in
the staff report. The access on Linder Road is important to the church. They would like
to have access. We designed the curb cut on Linder Road, so there is an existing curb
cut out there that meets the requirements of the Loretta Street entrance, which was
designed. I don't remember what the turning configuration is in Linder Road just
offhand, but it met whatever the highway district's requirements were at the time, which
is why they approved the addition of the curb cut. When they widen Linder Road we put
that curb cut in in anticipation of extending Loretta Street ultimately. We would
encourage approval of the Linder Road access as has been mentioned. The traffic
characteristics going onto the curb cut or what would have been Loretta Street are quite
different and better for Linder Road. The church will have different traffic patterns.
Most of their traffic will be off peak traffic, compared to six commercial buildings and the
total volume will be less, actually. So, our approach at this point was to present this to
the City Council, get your approval, and, then, go to ACHD and get theirs next. So,
unless you have anymore questions, that's --
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor. You answered my question about if it's going to be widened
there. It does -- it's a five lane road to Copper Cloud, because, then, it's a right turn only
as you're headed south and, then, it becomes two lane from there and so if you're going
north at Copper Cloud, it splits out, so you have the two going north, two coming south
and the center turn lane. So, I didn't know if they were going to bring that down and
have a three lane with a center turn lane at that -- on Ustick there is a church between
Linder and Ten Mile on the south side where they extended the entrance to Bridgetower
down far enough that folks going into that church have access into Ustick and that kind
of gives them protection of entering and exiting while they do that, because Ustick is
heavily traveled, just like Linder Road, and since I live in that part of the area that it
doesn't seem to be a problem with that center turn lane. So, that might be -- in my mind
a solution to that if they are willing to allow that driveway there, so --
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 41 of 45
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I agree with having -- you won't have a right of way through there, you will have
out of the parking lot both going west and east. I think you need a parking lot that size.
You won't have an easement through there or public street through there, but at least
you will be able to get on and get off. I agree with -ACHD probably won't agree with
us, but I agree we need that.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Just a comment on Linder. If my memory serves me correct, at some point it
will be a five lane road eventually all the way through Meridian, including an overpass.
It's listed as a future major arterial.
Bird: Yeah.
De Weerd: Would you be adding a tum lane going into it?
Christensen: At this point -- at this point, Madam Mayor and Members of the Council,
it's in. So, the curb cut is in. It's approved. It's -- that's -- that's what we will leave
exactly the way -- it's already approved and ACRD has approved it. The only thing that
we are proposing is we are proposing an alteration of the uses of the beyond the curb
cut that are better in terms of the traffic utilization of Linder Road, you know, it's going to
stay there, it will operate the same way, access in and out of there is going to be exactly
the same as it would have been with Loretta Street, it's just that there will be less traffic
at the peak hours with the church, compared to what it would have been with six office
buildings.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Christensen: Thank you.
De Weerd: This is a public hearing. Is there any additional testimony on this item?
Okay. Council, I don't see additional testimony. Any further comments from staff?
Parsons: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, you could always restrict that access
to right-in, right-out or right-out only. It doesn't necessarily have to be full access. So,
something to keep in mind as well.
Hoaglun: And Bill -- Madam Mayor. Just to make certain, whatever we approve it is up
to ACHD, they are going to be the final ones in terms of that access point; is that
correct?
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 42 of 45
Parsons: Councilman Hoaglun, that is correct. They will be acting on the plat and
signing the plat.
Hoaglun: Okay. Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move that we close the public hearing on MDA 10-002.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on this item. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I would move approval of MDA 10-002, including staff, Council, and public
comments and to include access to Linder Road on the submitted concept plan.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, Madam
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, nay; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: And two for and one against. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: TWO AYES. ONE NAY. ONE ABSENT.
D. FP 10-001 Bridgetower Crossing Subdivision No. 15 by
Primeland Investment Group, LLC Located at the Southwest
Corner of N. Linder Road and W. McMillan Road: Request for
Final Plat Approval for Six Commercial Building Lots and 1
Other Lot on 10.2 Acres in an L-O (Limited Office) Zoning
District
De Weerd: Okay. Item 9-D is FP 10-001. I would ask for staff comments on this item.
Parsons: Madam Mayor, this is the final plat that coincides with the concept plan that
you just acted on. I did receive confirmation from the applicant that they are in
Meridian Ciry Council
February 23, 2010
Page 43 of 45
agreement with the conditions of the final plat, so no issues before you and with that I
will stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none, Mayor.
De Weerd: Okay. Hearing none --
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve FP 10-001, the Bridgetower Crossing Subdivision 15.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve this item. If there is no
discussion, Madam Clerk, roll call, please.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
E. Public Hearing TE 10-001 Ambercreek No. 2 by Trilogy
Development Located at the Southwest Corner of W. McMillan
Road and N. Meridian Road Request for approval of an 18-
Month Time Extension to Obtain the City Engineer's Signature
on the Final Plat for Ambercreek Subdivision No. 2
De Weerd: Okay. We move to Other Items. No. 10-A is an Executive Session per
Idaho State Code. Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Bird: We got 9-E we got to --
Zaremba: Continue Item B.
De Weerd: Oh, I'm sorry.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we continue TE 10-001 to March 23rd, 2010.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 44 of 45
Zaremba: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to continue this item to March 23rd. All those
in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 10: Other Items
A. Executive Session per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1) - (a) To
Consider Hiring a Public Officer, Employee, Staff Member or
Individual Agent, Not to Include Filling a Vacancy in an
Elective Office, (e) To Consider Preliminary Negotiations
Involving Matters of Trade or Commerce in Which the
Governing Body is in Competition with Governing Bodies in
Other States or Nations, (f) To Consider and Advise its Legal
Representatives in Pending Litigation
De Weerd: Okay. I'll need a motion to adjourn into Executive Session.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(a),
(1)(e) and (1)(f).
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: If there is no discussion, Madam Clerk, roll call.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, absent; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (9:05 p.m. to 9:56 p.m.)
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Meridian City Council
February 23, 2010
Page 45 of 45
De Weerd: What do you want?
Watts: I had the amended one. I don't know if I had to enter it back in or whatever.
Nary: No. Because we will do a resolution and, then, we will send it all out to the
Council.
Watts: I highlighted the changes, too, for you, Keith.
Bird: What?
Watts: I highlighted the changes -- those modifications we just made.
De Weerd: Oh, you're nice. Good job. I would entertain a motion.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor, I move that we adjourn.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor? All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:57 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
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